And here was the twist: That nation, for a change, might have been the U.S., not Canada.

In our athletic universe, no fans are as cultlike or demented as hockey fans. However, Americans in general only tend to get interested in the sport when, A) there is the promise of their national team doing well at the Olympics or, B) there is the promise of extraordinary athletes performing extraordinary feats.

Sunday, both things occurred. And no promises were broken.

A nervy, brutal and intense gold-medal hockey game concluded with a 3-2 overtime victory by Canada. Yet for more than three hours, a young American team and stonewalling goalie Ryan Miller kept the full house of Canadian fans in a state of queasy dread.

The game ended abruptly in sudden death, as all hockey overtimes. Seven minutes and 40 seconds into the extra period, Canadian star Sidney Crosby had the puck and open space, a bad thing for Team USA. Crosby powered a shot past Miller and sent the streets of this town into a full frontal Molson beer consumption frenzy.

On the Canadian bench, where four members of the San Jose Sharks were watching and awaiting their next shift, Patrick Marleau saw Crosby’s score first.

“I jumped about five feet in the air and I couldn’t get onto the ice fast enough,” Marleau said. “It was great hockey in overtime, going back and forth. But Sid getting that goal at the end was unbelievable.”

Even to Crosby.

“I didn’t see it go in the net,” Crosby said of his shot. “I just saw everyone scream.”

Not everyone. The U.S. players’ shoulders drooped. They skated silently to their end of the ice as the Canadian players celebrated.

About 20 minutes later, American forward Joe Pavelski came off the ice with a silver medal around his neck. Pavelski was visibly spent. He said it was impossible to place too much in perspective. A week earlier, in a preliminary-round game, the U.S. had defeated Canada. But it could not repeat the feat.

“It’s too early to step back and analyze right now,” Pavelski said. “I’ll just say this – the atmosphere here today was awesome. The atmosphere was the best. The outcome wasn’t.”

Ron Wilson, the Team USA coach, suggested that his players should still feel consolation.

“I thought Canada played a great game,” Wilson said. “But I think we played equally well. I think both teams are winners and maybe, more than anything, hockey in general. Sometimes, the best team in the tournament doesn’t win the gold medal. And I thought our team played as well as any team I’ve coached.”

For stretches of Sunday’s game, the U.S. definitely carried the play. And the most impressive part: After Canada took a 2-0 lead in front of a roaring Canadian audience, the Americans did not flinch. They kept pushing. In the second period, a U.S. goal by Ryan Kesler made it 2-1.

Through the third period, there was no letup. And then, just 25 seconds before the end of regulation, an electric jolt froze Canada in its tracks – a stunner of a tying goal by Team USA’s Zach Parise.

The sequence began with Pavelski winning a critical faceoff to the right of Canadian goalie Roberto Luongo. That began the puck movement that created a pinball-type deflection off the skates of Jamie Langenbrunner onto the stick of Parise, who buried it. Pavelski rushed to join the celebration.

At that point, a U.S. victory that had seemed so improbable two weeks ago was a real possibility. However, unlike the format in preliminary rounds when overtimes began almost immediately after the end of the third period, the two teams took a 15-minute intermission. It allowed Canada to regroup. If the play had continued, might Team USA have kept its momentum?

“It didn’t make a difference,” Pavelski said. “During the intermission, I think it was a good chance for us to calm down and get our overtime plan in shape.”

Marleau, when asked if he would be bringing his medal to the Sharks dressing room when the NHl season resumes for some show-and-tell with his non-gold-winning teammates, was diplomatic.

“We won’t be rubbing it in their face,” Marleau said. “But they’ll probably want to take a look at it.”

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